Essay #2

Question #1 (Narrative-oriented)

In Huck Finn and Light in August, Twain and Faulkner employ a narrative methodology that corresponds to the interpersonal relationships represented in each novel. What is the nature of this correspondence? What is it about content of Huck Finn that makes its narrative mode more appropriate than the one Faulkner employs in Light in August? Or, what is it about the content of Light in August that makes its narrative mode more appropriate than the one Twain employs in Huck Finn? Select either Huck Finn or Light in August as your primary text and demonstrate why its narrative mode is more appropriate to its content than the other’s.

Question #2 (Research-oriented)

In “Huck, Jim, and the American Racial Discourse” (362-374), David L. Smith says “the issue is: does Twain merely reiterate clichés [racial stereotypes], or does he use these conventional patterns to make an unconventional point?” (368). The same question can (and should) be asked of Faulkner. Examine Twain and Faulkner’s use of a specific racial stereotype and determine whether they “merely reiterate clichés” or use them “to make an unconventional point.” To answer this question, you must establish what would constitute a “conventional point” in the moment Huck Finn and Light in August were written. (Remember, what might be a conventional point in the historical moment represented in a novel may not be a conventional point at all when it is written. The possibility of a discrepancy requires you take into account how the social and cultural environment a novel represents differs from the social and cultural environment in which it is written.) If you choose to write on Huck Finn, you must respond to at least two of the essays in the “Criticism” section. A response entails a direct engagement with the author’s argument, that is, you cannot simply agree with the author.

Question #3 (Thematically-oriented)

Although the central narratives in Huck Finn and Light in August concern relationships between heterosexual men in a patriarchal society, both novels contain intimations of “deviant” sexual encounters: between men, between men and children, between black men and white women, etc. Citing evidence of “normal” social interaction in the novel, examine the implications of these possible encounters for the successful (or unsuccessful) reintegration into society of the parties involved in them. If you choose to write on Huck Finn, you must obtain a copy of Leslie Fiedler’s “Come Back to the Raft Ag’in, Huck Honey!” from me.

Or

If you have a topic you would like to address, treat the Light in August response paper as an informal paper proposal. Indicate what specific issues interest you, as well as how you believe Huck Finn and Light in August address them.